WATCH: N. Dallas High School doesn’t want you to know if trans student won homecoming vote

Oct 11, 2010

North Dallas High School isn’t releasing the results of the vote for homecoming queen, saying the information is confidential. So we have no way of knowing for sure whether transgender student Andy Moreno had enough votes to be a finalist for homecoming queen. But Andy’s running mate on the ballot, her MTF transgender friend, is one of three finalists for homecoming king. So it’s likely that Andy was also one of the top three vote-getters, but Principal Dinnah Escanilla is stubbornly sticking to her terrible decision not to allow Andy to run for queen. What’s worse, the Dallas Independent School District continues to allow Escanilla’s blatant discrimination, making us wonder what would happen if the principal required the homecoming queen to be of a certain race.

Fox 4 has been following this story closely, and it’s been the No. 1 most read article on their site both last week and today. But why does Fox 4 reporter Sophia Reza suddenly begin referring to Andy as a “he” and “him” halfway through her report, almost as though she’s mimicking students who do the same thing? And why does anchor Heather Hays seem to have such a hard time understanding the simple fact that Andy identifies as a girl, not a boy?

Andy, who has a new hair-do and looks stunningly beautiful in the interview, says she plans to talk to the principal about the homecoming vote, but as of now, she has no plans to sue despite being approached by some lawyers. She’ll be attending the homecoming dance in a dress and heels this weekend, which Hays also seems worried about. Hays asks whether the school has a dress code — such as one prohibiting low-cut dresses — that would also bar Andy from wearing a dress at all.

“Well then they should have less of a problem with me coming in a low-cut dress, because I’m sorry, but what’s going to pop out of my top?” Moreno responds.

10 Comments

chick
on October 11, 2010 at 11:52 pm

I didn’t really see a problem with the anchor, though I did find the reporters’ use of the masculine pronoun a bit troubling. However, it was also weird that Andy referred to her MTF friend Ignazio as “he.”

While I certainly feel Andy should be allowed to run for homecoming queen, her MTF transgender friend who is up for homecoming king complicates the issue. If they both identify as female, it seems to be a double standard to allow her friend to run for King.

I wouldn’t expect teenagers to understand how important it is to use proper pronouns. Also Andy’s friend may not have a prob with use of either pronoun. These are things that you get to learn on a personal level with transgender people. But it is QUITE obvious that Andy refers to to herself with female pronouns and for media to continue to call her a “he” is completely insensitive, ignorant and unprofessional.

I would really like to know what the vote was – if she was in the top 3 – she should be allowed to continue her quest to be queen – if not in the top 3 – her point was well made and the story is over. I really admire her for standing up for what she believes is right – she is an impressive young lady – and that hairdo is fierce!

Family and friends mean well. But knowing Andy when she was presenting as male makes them prone to be stuck on the old identification. They need to let her change, and make the effort to get the pronouns right in order to support their friend – especially now with this incident in the national spotlight.

The worlds transgender community loves and admires Andy. She showed class, intelligence and resolve by not responding after being blindsided mid interview with the derogatory intentional misgendering by that FAUX ‘reporter’. There might just be some transgender supporters outside of the Dance Saturday. We want to show her in person our support. She’s the winner and our Queen of hearts.